Welcome to our blog where we bring you the latest updates on the recent expulsion of two Catholic priests from Nicaragua. This news adds to the growing number of religious figures who have been forced to leave the country since 2018. The image of the priests being expelled adds a somber tone to the situation.
Last week, Fr. Leonel Balmaceda and Fr. Denis Martínez were arrested in Nicaragua and subsequently expelled from the country. Fr. Balmaceda, the parish priest of Jesús de Caridad Church in La Trinidad, hails from the Diocese of Estelí. On the other hand, Fr. Martínez, a formator at the interdiocesan seminary Nuestra Señora de Fátima in Managua, belongs to the clergy of the Diocese of Matagalpa.
Both dioceses are under the leadership of Bishop Rolando Álvarez, who has been residing in Rome since January. The expulsions of these priests were reported by human rights defenders and independent media outlets such as La Prensa and 100% Noticias.
News outlets also mentioned that Fr. Danny García, the parish priest of San Juan Bautista Church in Matagalpa, was “released” following his arrest by Nicaraguan police in mid-August. It was reported that he has since left Nicaragua.
According to a Nicaraguan researcher in exile, a total of 245 religious figures, including the Apostolic Nuncio to Nicaragua, Archbishop Waldemar Sommertag, three bishops, 136 priests, three deacons, eleven seminarians, and 91 religious women or men have been either forced into exile or expelled since the crisis began in 2018.
The researcher’s report also highlights that 19 religious individuals, including Bishop Álvarez and exiled Bishop Silvio Báez, have been declared “traitors to the homeland” and stripped of their nationality. The gravity of the situation facing these religious figures is truly alarming.
